The state released an array of data Thursday showing how California public schools are measuring up in educating children.
The release of the 2008 Accountability Progress Reporting (APR) program came with some good news: Schools were narrowing the stubborn achievement gap between white and Asian students and those who are African American, Latino or learning the English language.
If you feel you are experiencing deja vu, it is understandable. Less than a month ago, the state released another round of student performance data. Here's the difference:
The earlier round involved the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program for 2007-08. These standards-based tests are given to individual students, who receive their own results in the mail, and show grade-by-grade and subject-by-subject testing outcomes at the school level. There also are district and state summaries by grade and subject. You can see this information at www.star.cde.ca.gov.
Thursday's new batch of annual scores and rankings incorporates the STAR test results, along with other factors, and shifts the focus to overall school performance. The results are important because under federal laws, schools that are not educating children well enough are identified and pushed to improve.
Here is a guide to the elements of the program, as described by the California Department of Education:
APR – California's Accountability Progress Reporting system – measures the academic achievement of California's 6.3 million public school students.
The APR system has three components:
API – Academic Performance Index. This report is required by the state's Public Schools Accountability act of 1999. It shows how much a school is improving from year to year. A school's API is a number ranging from 200 to 1,000, calculated from statewide test results. The state wants all schools to reach 800. Those that fall short must reach annual growth targets, which vary by school.
To see how your school is doing on the API, or to compare schools in your area, you can go to www.sacbee.com/links.
AYP – Adequate Yearly Progress. This report is required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. It shows how well schools and districts are meeting common standards of academic performance, such as proficiency in math and English-language arts and graduation rates. The targets rise each year until 2013-14 when all schools are supposed to have their students performing at or above the proficient level on state tests.
PI – This is shorthand for "Program Improvement," a classification for schools that receive certain federal Title 1 dollars and do not meet AYP targets for two years in a row.
If you have not had enough alphabet soup, here is one more to look forward to.
CAHSEE – The California High School Exit Exam, which students must pass if they want to graduate from a public high school in this state. The 2007-08 results are coming out on Tuesday.
Call The Bee's Deb Kollars, (916) 321-1090.
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